Christ is the Head of His Church

Christ Is Supreme

¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, ¹⁶ for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. ¹⁹ For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

• In all likelihood, this magnificent description of Jesus in Colossians 1:15-20 was an early Christian hymn with two stanzas.

• The first stanza, as Pastor Brad took us through last Sunday, focuses on Jesus as God … the Lord of all creation…
• Jesus is God of the universe and all forces at work within it.
• Jesus is not merely another force or god within the universe, He is God, Supreme, as with the Father & the HS.
• To believe or declare anything less or compromising of this truth is heresy.

The second stanza starts in v.18 and declares that Jesus is Lord of the new creation, the new humanity, which is the church … us!

• Listen again… close your eyes if you need to…
• I will read this stanza 2xs and allow for silence so that the totality of this truth soaks into our beings!

(pick up my Bible & read/notes)

¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. ¹⁹ For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

²¹ This includes you (Jared & Sylvia) who were once far away from God. You (Constance & Miriam) were his enemies, separated from him by your (Sandy & Muriel) evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you (Pam & John…) to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you (Steve & Michael) into his own presence, and you (Sue & Sheila) are holy and blameless as you (Deb & Katy) stand before him without a single fault. ²³ But you (Ann-Marie & Ruth Ellen) must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you (Sean & Dale) received when you (Betty & Ken) heard the Good News.

• ¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
• ¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church,which is his body.
• We Are the Church
• Friends, the Good News for those who have accepted Jesus as Saviour and walk with him as their Lord, is that we are his body, the church.

• Never forget that we are Christ’s body, we are the new creation, we are the church.
• The church is something eternally new that world had never witnessed before Jesus commissioned it just 2000 yrs ago.
• The church … we, are different from any other organization or entity in humanity.
• Some look at the church as a religious club, operated by a few for the enjoyment and benefit of its members.
• Others look at the church as a collection of spiritual or emotional misfits, who need a crutch to walk with.
• Some picture the church as religious fanatics, chasing after crazy doctrines, or new expressions of faith that offer a mystically good feeling.
  • But none of those manifestations is anything like what we just read in Colossians 1.
  • ¹⁸ Christ is the head of the church,which is his body.
• It’s a very clear and simple picture of a body with two facets joined together: head & torso.
• But it is the most important statement that the NT makes about the church.
• And thankfully, we each have a personal and portable model with us so that we can understand how the church functions.
• At home, you can stand in front of a mirror, but here, you can look at the person next to you, and you will notice that there are two primary divisions of the physical body.
• The round part up top, with some hair on it, is the head and it’s the control centre for the body.
• The body is this diversely shaped torso with appendages that really only have significance as they relate to serving the torso.
• Two parts: the head controls the body.
  • If we forget this simple truth, and remove the head from the body … well, what happens when your head gets removed from your body?
• My parents are immigrants from rural S. America and I am the first in my family to be born in Canada.
• Even though I was born and raised in Vancouver, we very rarely bought meat in nice packaging from a grocery store.
• In fact, every year, our family drove out to a friend’s farm in the country (Abbotsford) and we butchered our meat … beef, pork, chickens.
• When it came to chickens, us little kids had one job … chase after the chicken after its head had been chopped off.
• You see, a chicken with its head cut off, acts very strangely.
• You would think you put a chicken’s neck on the chopping block… chop… and head falls on one side and body falls to the ground on the other side.
• But no … a chicken doesn’t simply go limp and die.
• A chicken actually jumps and runs around, out of control for a minute or two, doing damage to its flesh (which you want to eat), before it finally dies.
• Sorry for the unsavory analogy, but when the church disengages or loses its awareness of its Head, it too goes out of control and does damage before it eventually dies.
  • That was the issue in Colossae.
• In Colossians 2, Paul says that they, Christ’s body, the church, have lost connection to its head, Jesus.
• And that the head/Jesus is essential for the body/the church to function.
• It’s Jesus who…
  • …Initiates the presence of the Church
  • …Coordinates the activities of the Church
  • …Maintains growth and sustainability for the Church
  • …Supplies direction & vision for the Church
  • …Gives health/vibrancy to the Church
  • …Resolves dysfunction in/through the Church
• Jesus gives that which the church needs to function wholly.
• That’s what our physical heads do and that’s what Jesus, as Head of our church, does…
  • Now, when we come together/gather like this, it seems obvious and almost 2^nd nature to hear this message and affirm it.
• Together as the church, we look at each other and we get it… it makes sense.
• We can do things gathered that we would never attempt on our own (i.e. the new facility).
• But here’s the tricky part, this truth, has to find application both when we are gathered AND when we are scattered.
  • The truth is that church, we, do not act corporately very much of the time … and practically speaking, we are not expected to.
• If my expectation is that the church/the corporate expression will act for me in my daily life … I have a false idea of the church.
• Christ’s body is not designed that way.
• Now don’t hear what I am not saying about individualism…
• What I am saying is this.
• Each individual, you and I, are directly related to the Head … and as such corporately, we are church … BUT, individually I am also connected to the Head and as such, individually, I am the church … you are the church.
• And each of us needs our Head/Jesus to be directing us in our daily activities, decisions, thoughts, actions…
• That’s where the church truly functions … in our daily lives, not here on Sunday morning.
• As much as I wish I could take you all with me 24-7, that’s not how life practically speaking, works.

• When we gather, we gather to remind each other that Jesus is our corporate Head, and we are taught/nurtured by the Head so that we can learn how to function.

• And then we scatter for the vast majority of the week and we have to live away from here, in our homes, work places, neighbourhoods, play places, etc…
• And out there (apart from you) I have to be able to directly relate to the Head… I need to be expecting Jesus to guide me, open doors, provide energy, speak truth, impart wisdom, comfort me, pick me up when I fall, correct me and forgive me….
• And it’s out there, when I/you are doing those things, that the church touches society in every possible facet.
  • You are the body/church “out there” and if you are going to function “out there” in a healthy way, you need to be connected to your head/Jesus, otherwise you will encounter opposition and forces stronger than you that will lure you and crush you.
• Listen to Paul’s description of the “last days” to Timothy…
  • 2 Timothy 3 You should know this, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ² For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. ³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. ⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.
• That is the reality of the world we scatter into each week after we have gathered.
• Eugene Peterson (author/shepherd), who passed away last week, said in a sermon,
  • “The message of the American church is, ‘You can do it!’ but the message of the Bible is “Jesus has done it!’
• Don’t kid yourself… on your own, apart from Jesus, you cannot do it!
• The Head of the body/church is Jesus…
  • He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. ¹⁹ For God in all his fullnesswas pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. ²¹ This includes you…
• Friends, we get our life from Jesus Christ!
• Jesus alone occupies the role as Head of the body/us.

Look again at the “resume” of the One who is Head of the body.

• Starting back in v.14…

1:14 Jesus provides redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

   1:15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

   1:15 Jesus existed before and is Supreme over, everything

   1:16 Jesus created everything, including any authority

   1:16 Every thing was created through Jesus.

   1:16 Every thing was created for Jesus.

   1:17 Jesus existed before everything & holds everything together

   1:18 Jesus is the head of the church.

   1:18 Jesus is the beginning, supreme, preeminent.

   1:19 Jesus encompasses the fullness of God

   1:20 Jesus can reconcile all things to himself

   1:20 Jesus can make peace with every thing/one (death/resurrection)

So in ½ hr, when you and I scatter into our individual lives, can you think of any situation, relationship, conversation, problem, task… that Jesus can’t handle?

• Is there anyone else who you think is more qualified to be your Head?
  • Maybe Ron our moderator, Mayor Jack Froese, the Dalia Lama, Pope Francis) … is there anyone who you think could be a more qualified head to be connected to?
• And if you are choosing to go without a Head, do you really believe that your life/resume will suffice for what you are going to encounter on a daily basis (think back to Paul’s description in 2 Timothy).

What’s your week going to look like?

• If you have challenges coming your way… how will you react?
  • Faith in Jesus or fear/anxiety for yourself.
• If you have to deal with money this week…
  • Will it be faith/generosity from Jesus or a tight self-preservation fist?
• We all have to encounter people/relationships…
  • Will you give or take, neglect or nurture
• What about the pain you will experience this week…
  • Will you be able to heal your pain or others
• Your time…
  • Use it wisely or waste it in trivial pursuits
• What about the injustice you will see this week…
  • Can you offer forgiveness, grace and hope?
• What about the joys & opportunities coming at you…
  • Does anyone know your sweet-spot better than Jesus?

These are all things that you, the body/church are designed to be in the world, but you simply cannot be, unless you are connected to the head/Jesus.

• No matter how good your personal resume, you simply don’t have the qualifications to live life apart from Jesus.
• You and I are designed and created to be the body, with Jesus as our Head.
• And any time I separate myself from the Head, I become a corpse, slowly decaying.
• It doesn’t matter what I replace Jesus with … myself, another teaching, money, friendship, pleasure, another person… my spirit/life will decay.
• Without Jesus, I/you cannot function as the individual I am created to be in this world … or the next.

• ¹⁵ Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.
• ¹⁸ Jesus is also the head of the church,which is his body.

²³ You must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

• Worship & Prayer
• Together with the worship team, we are going to sing a couple more songs and some of us will be at the back to pray with you…

• This is part of what we do when we gather as the body.
• And then in about 10-15 minutes, we, the body, are going to scatter separately into society.
• If Jesus is your Head, as He is mine, then we are wonderfully related/connected with each other even when we are scattered.

• It’s a marvelous mystery of relationship that constitutes one of the most exciting things in the world … the church.

• When the Church, with Jesus as our Head, scatters into society and functions properly, it is far and away the most powerfully effective body on earth.
• That’s what Jesus means when he says in Matthew 5, “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.”

• Friends, while you and I are out there this week, living life, we are related because of Jesus… and my role when I’m out there, is the same as yours… listen and respond to Jesus as our Head … in every encounter, in every situation … know that Jesus is our Head!

And if you are in any doubt as to whether or not you can do this … for whatever reason, please go and pray at the back / come and talk before you leave today.